Court System

To the Editor: Once again, our court system has taken care of an animal, an animal who has never once denied that he committed murders and robbery. The findings by these judges should enrage everyone here in the Lehigh Valley because the crimes of Martin Appel could have been inflicted on any of us. To uproot those sorrows again and make those who lost family and friends go through the trauma again is disgusting. This animal is playing with us, using the system, and laughing all the way. The taxpayer is again footing the bill for his abuse of the judicial system.

— So guess who's getting a raise? Not so fast, Cubicle Dweller, the chances are pretty good it's not you. If, however, you're one of the 253 members of the General Assembly, a judge, the governor or lieutenant governor or one of a select group of executive branch employees, you can expect your base pay to jump by just about 2.2. percent come Dec. 1 For that, thank a 1995 state law that gives those employees an automatic cost-of-living adjustment...

Lehigh County's centralized court program for jailed defendants has been chosenas a model for other counties in the state. Lehigh was one of three counties whose programs were singled out for recognition recently in Valley Forge at the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Association of Administrators of Special Courts. Attending the conference were administrators of district justice systems in the state's 67 counties. Rufus Sylvester Lynch, director of court management for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts in Philadelphia, said Lehigh, Delaware and Westmoreland counties were designated as model systems to be used as examples for other counties.

One Lehigh County judge candidate believes donning the black robe requires a stronger commitment to the community and he sees himself regularly meeting with the public to discuss what's going on in the courthouse. His opponent believes judges should keep the court's budget in mind when sentencing defendants and before appointing court masters to civil cases. Community involvement and cost-cutting aren't usually main platforms for judicial candidates, but in this case the two men seeking election to the bench Nov. 8 are longtime politicians.

by NICHOLAS NOEL III (A free-lance story for The Morning Call) | April 1, 1998

Recent times have witnessed a growing encroachment into the independence of our judiciary by both the executive and legislative branches of government. The shrill attacks on our judges from the executive frequently are heard from prosecutors, while the legislative meddling occurs through attempts to control funding, rule making, and demanding "accountability." While our little world in Northampton County is not idyllic, one does not have to look far to see certain clouds on the horizon which could, if ignored, turn into a threatening storm, unexpectedly pouring down on our picnic of a practice, when compared to other venues in our commonwealth.

Members of the Northampton County legal community yesterday got a crash course on the Japanese legal system at a reception honoring the Japanese colleague who will be in residence at Lafayette College through August. Osamu Iguchi, a judge of the Tokyo District Court and the co-author of "Criminal Law: Cases and Readings," is one of two jurists sent to the United States by the Japanese Supreme Court to observe and study U.S. courts. He has already gotten a crash course in the criminal court system, observing the jury trial of a Bethlehem man accused of rape, as well as other aspects of the county's criminal court term.

Lord Acton, one of the world's most respected historians, saw all this coming 122 years ago. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," he said. Acton was not talking about our unaccountable Pennsylvania court system, but he could have been. I and others have said for years that, in general, the system is one of the nation's worst. In particular, I've targeted the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for its contempt of constitutional principles, and some local courts for ignoring due process and other safeguards involved in "placements" of youngsters in fabulously profitable facilities, such as KidsPeace.

Lehigh County Deputy Sheriffs Rudy Black, Robert Daubenspeck, William A. Focht and Robert Roberts recently completed training at the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Cumberland County. The deputies received instruction in the court system, civil process, criminal code, courtroom security, prisoner transport, first aid, self- defense, communications, firearms training and crisis intervention.

First, an admired, respected general opposed to the administration was accused of being a homosexual. Then, since the court system would not cooperate, a parallel court system was appointed to carry out the political party's desires and eliminate opponents. Secret prisons were then established to harbor those not of like mind of the administration under the guise of being terrorists, communists and enemies of the state. To build on a national tendency to support anyone opposed to the nation, an incident was created to arouse the general public to give public support for the war. Then, support from churches and churchmen was pursued to legitimize this whole situation.

Consumers should be reimbursed for the extra charges. This is just another sneaky way for big corporations to make a quick buck. Do I think they will be reimbursed? Absolutely not. The Public Utility Commission will take months to make a decision on the complaint, and of course PPL will appeal that decision to the courts. We all know our court system is the only thing that moves slower than a snail, and it will ultimately decide for PPL. Consumers today have to be acutely aware of every bill they receive and check them over word for word.

A union representing 60 employees in the Northampton County court system wants a judge to force County Council to approve an arbitration award that officials rejected last month, a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday says. The American Federation of State Council and Municipal Employees court-appointed professionals unit includes court administration, adult and juvenile probation and domestic relations employees. A three-person labor panel of union, county and neutral arbitrators held a hearing in October to set terms of a contract retroactive to the start of 2010.

As an elected official, I have learned to pick my fights when dealing with the township or municipality on budget issues. In general, it is my philosophy to allow the various department heads to develop and manage their own budgets. The respective department head is in the best position to understand the department cost structure and its ability to serve the public. However, it is also incumbent on the county court system to provide complete and total transparency of the budget to both branches of the county government.

The old Pennsylvania Crime Commission had no prosecutorial power. What made it dangerous to corrupt politicians and their friends in organized crime was its independence. It simply published reports that drove the crooks crazy, especially in corruption-riddled Harrisburg, where some elements of the power structure preferred to slither under their rocks without exposure. One such commission report said that then-state Attorney General Ernie Preate had taken money from illegal gambling figures in return for letting them escape prosecution.

Paul Carpenter T hink back to your school days. Did you ever engage in misconduct as serious as taking nail clippers to school or flicking a spitball at somebody else during class? Maybe not. You were, no doubt, a goody two-shoes who never annoyed any school authority. But what about your children? Might any of them ever have a lapse and engage in felonious flicking of spitballs? If so, their lives could be ruined with the bang of a gavel that sends them to prison for years -- with no lawyer, no due process, no trial by a jury, no right to confront witnesses, no nothing.

TODAY'S QUESTION: Special courts have been established or are being considered in several Pennsylvania counties to deal with special problems veterans encounter in the criminal justice system. Advocates believe difficulties encountered by many veterans may be linked to post-traumatic stress, depression, substance abuse and other problems possibly associated with military service. Should separate special courts be formed in the Lehigh Valley to deal with cases involving military veterans?

To the Editor: In reference to 10-year-old Cameron Robert Kocher who shot and killed his 7-year-old schoolmate, and who, consequently, will be tried in the adult court system: The juvenile system has made a tremendous moral leap forward by replacing the concept of punishment with that of rehabilitation. The juvenile court system will not uphold society's interest in trying a juvenile? Why else was it created? Reforms must be instituted in this system to provide for the sentencing of homicidal children, an area that the courts have overlooked.

After only a few years of obscene dereliction of duty, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has put a Band-Aid on the malignant cancer it blithely let grow in Luzerne County. The Supremes piously vacated "adjudications" that put thousands of children, all of them presumed innocent, into commercial jails in return for millions of dollars in kickbacks, according to federal criminal charges against two so-called judges. An Associated Press story in Friday's paper said the ruling involved cases before one of those two, former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, charged with taking the kickbacks from operators of the commercial juvenile detention centers.

A Long Pond man was arrested Saturday for allegedly failing to register in Tunkhannock Township as a sexual offender under Megan's Law. Albert Caroselli, 51, had lived at 5918 Mountain Laurel Drive since August 2007 without registering, Pocono Mountain Regional police said. Police did not report which offense Caroselli had committed to require local registration. Police said Caroselli would be committed temporarily to Monroe County Prison before his case goes through the court system.